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Charles   Jos^olvn, 


EDUC. 
PSYCH. 


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The  World  We  Live  In 


BY 


EDWARD   A.   BRACKETT 

Author  of  " Materialized  Apparitions" 
"My  House,"  Etc. 


///y/v-^ 


^ARTIetVeRITATI 


BOSTON 
RICHARD    G.    BADGER 

I  909 


Copyright,  1903.  by  E.  A.  Bracket 


All  Rights  Reserved 


7K     ^'^^PVl  eVi^Kw 


i...-'       I  ^ 


07 


EDUC. 
UBRABY 


To  my  brother,  Walter  M.  Brackett,  with 
whom  I  have  journeyed  in  this  life  for  more 
than  three-quarters  of  a  century,  whose  inde- 
pendent thought  and  action  has  never  marred 
the  affection  between  us,  this  little  book  is 
dedicated. 


615S47 


INDEX 

Preface     9 

Introduction ^S 

The  World  We  Live  In         ....  25 

Through  the  Ages 59 

We  Are  One     .        .        .        .        .        .        •  85 

The  Unknown 93 

All  in  All "9 


Fear  not  the  gloom,  'tis  but  a  shroud 
That  veils  the  light,  a  passing  cloud 
That  trails  and  drifts  and  drops  its  rain ; 
The  parched  earth  drinks  and  laughs  again. 
What  is  for  thee  accept,  retain  — 
'Tis  thine,  for  thee  all  else  is  vain. 


PREFACE 

This  little  book  is  written  at  the  close  of  my 
eighty-fourth  year,  at  a  time  when  laboring 
under  great  exhaustion,  the  result  of  overwork 
in  other  directions. 

I  make  no  apology  for  its  defects  and  claim 
nothing  for  its  possible  merits.  I  had  some- 
thing to  say,  and,  in  my  own  way,  have  said  it. 

In  my  early  days  I  became  interested  in  the 
study  of  mesmerism,  then  practically  unknown 
in  this  country.  Many  of  my  experiments  were 
made  in  company  with  Wm.  H.  Channing,  the 
inventor  of  the  fire-alarm. 

From  the  intensity  of  my  nature  and  a  daring 
due  to  ignorance,  I  carried  these  experiments, 
probably,  further  than  any  one  else.  Several 
times  I  pushed  my  subjects  where  neither  pulse 
nor  breath  was  discernible,  requiruig  all  my  ex- 
ertions and  presence  of  mind  to  restore  them  to 

their  normal  state. 

9 


lo  PREFACE 

It  was  during  these  experiments  that  I  dis- 
covered the  close  relation  between  mesmeric 
sleep  and  what  we  call  death,  and  to  me  it  gave 
unmistakable  evidence  of  another  life. 

My  subsequent  long  investigation  of  what  is 
called  mediumship,  which  is  only  a  form  of  mes- 
merism, in  no  wise  changed  the  conclusions  I 
had  reached. 

Had  time  permitted,  this  little  book  could 
have  been  swelled  into  a  large  volume.  The 
position  taken  in  regard  to  supposed  scientific 
conclusions  could  have  been  sustained  by  un- 
answerable facts.  The  theory  of  evolution  and 
transformation  of  species,  generally  attributed 
to  Darwin,  appears  to  have  been  promulgated 
thousands  of  years  before  the  publication  of  his 
book.  From  the  initiation  of  the  Neophytes  into 
the  orders  of  the  Hindu  religion,  we  make  the 
following  extract : 

"He  should  reflect  that  the  vital  spirit,  after 
leaving  the  GREAT  ALL,  undergoes  ten  thou- 
sand million  transformations  before  clothing  it- 
self with  the  human  form." 


PREFACE  II 

Of  the  importance  of  a  true  religious  feeling 
of  our  relations  to  the  Divine  Mind  there  can  be 
no  question.  It  is  the  unfortunate  dogmas  and 
speculations,  the  mummery  of  theatrical  forms 
and  ceremonies  that  tend  to  bring  it  into  dis- 
repute. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  that  all  these  dogmas  and 
ceremonies  are  taken  from  the  Jewish,  Egyptian 
and  Hindu  religions,  we  can  realize  how  far  out 
of  place  they  are  in  the  pure  teachings  of  Chris- 
tianity. 

Every  religious  organization  that  has  gained 
a  foothold  with  mankind  originated  in  spiritual 
manifestations.  The  diversion  and  degradation 
from  their  origin  were  due  to  egotistical  leaders 
who  sought  to  control  the  common  people,  pro- 
ducing a  mental  slavery  destructive  to  individual 
thought  and  action. 

The  statements  of  Arthur  Burleigh  may  have 
no  standing  with  scientists.  They  are  given  from 
memory  and  are  necessarily  imperfect.  Never- 
theless they  are  the  logical  outcome  of  intuitions 
and  aspirations  that  pervade  the  whole  world. 


There  is  no  past.     The  future  lies, 
A  blinding  mist,  before  our  eyes. 
No  footprints  mark  the  unseen  trail 
That  leads  us  down  the  shadowy  vale. 

Still  on  we  press.     With  hopes  and  fears 
We  watch  the  coming  of  the  years, 
And  here  and  there,  thro'  rifts  between 
Some  parting  cloud,  the  light  is  seen. 


18 


INTRODUCTION 

If  you  have  swamped  your  individuality  in 
the  habits  and  customs  of  a  sectarian  life,  you 
will  probably  find  yourself  dominated  by  in- 
herited ideas  —  vagabonds  that  have  come  down 
from  a  barbarous  age.  They  have  taken  pos- 
session of  your  intellect,  blinding  your  intuitions. 
Whether  you  like  them  or  not  you  cannot  anni- 
hilate them.  You  may  try  to  kick  them  out 
and  think  for  a  time  that  you  are  rid  of 
them,  but,  like  Rip  Van  Winkle,  they  return, 
not,  however,  in  rags,  but  dressed  in  new  gar- 
ments, labelled  *'  Higher  Criticism.'*  Inwardly 
they  have  not  changed.  Under  all  clanks  the 
cloven  foot.  Mentally  you  have  become  their 
slave.  They  distort  your  reason,  play  fantastic 
tricks  with  your  imagination,  until  you  are  un- 
able to  distinguish  between  the  real  and  the  un- 
real things  of  life.  Without  being  aware  of  it 
15 


i6  INTRODUCTION 

you  have  become  a  persistent  liar,  asserting, 
defending  as  facts  things  which  you  do  not  and 
cannot  possibly  know. 

Enveloped  in  this  mirage,  this  phosphorescent 
decay  of  unsavory  legends,  you  lose  all  apprecia- 
tion of  your  true  character. 

If,  by  any  circumstance,  you  are  so  fortunate 
as  to  escape  this  bondage,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
majority  you  are  nothing  but  a  crank,  subject  to 
the  despotism  of  public  opinion  against  which 
so  few  have  the  backbone  to  stand  up  and  be 
counted. 

The  evolutionists,  who  have  determined  with 
so  much  confidence  the  time  it  took  to  develop 
man  on  this  planet,  have  here  an  opportunity  to 
calculate  how  long  it  will  be  ere  he  ceases  to 
drag  after  him  the  rotten  remains  of  an  uncivil- 
ized age. 

It  is  a  question  how  far  we  have  advanced  in 
ethical  attainments  beyond  the  savage.  We 
have  accepted  many  of  his  gloomy,  irresponsible 
religious  ideas  without  retaining  his  simplicity 
and  love  of  nature. 


INTRODUCTION  17 

There  is  no  greater  crime  against  humanity 
than  that  of  poisoning  the  life  of  a  child  with 
false  ideas.  His  young  mind,  rich  with  joyous 
expectations  of  a  new  life,  becomes  hopelessly 
clouded.  Strangely  in  contrast  with  this  is  the 
truthful  saying  of  the  "  Master,"  **  Except  ye 
become  as  little  children  ye  shall  in  no  wise 
enter  the  kingdom  of  Heaven."  No  greater 
compliment  can  be  paid  you  than  that  you  are 
childlike,  simple,  outspoken,  not  pretending  to 
be  aught  save  what  you  are. 

Instead  of  this  you  look  outward,  upward, 
yearning  for  the  unattainable,  unconscious  of 
the  marvellous  creations  everywhere  springing 
up  around  you;  forgetting  that  he  who  walks 
with  averted  gaze  should  know  the  ground  he 
treads. 

All  the  fanciful,  imaginary,  unreal  ideas  sim- 
ply lull  you  into  a  drowsy  condition,  and,  like 
the  lotus  eaters,  you  drift  away  from  the  duties, 
realities  and  affections  of  life.  They  are  so 
much  hindrance  to  the  development  of  true 
character. 


INTRODUCTION 


I 


Is  life  so  poor  that  you  need  borrow  on  un- 
limited credit  that  of  which  you  cannot  make 
any  practical  use?  What  possible  difference 
can  it  be  to  you  here  whether,  in  the  other  life, 
you  wear  fig  leaves,  cotton  garments,  or  nothing 
at  all  ?  You  were  not  consulted  about  these 
things  on  coming  into  this  life  and  will  not 
be  on  going  into  the  other. 

The  highest  quality  of  outward  expression 
depends  upon  a  healthy,  robust  organization  and 
the  perfection  of  that  intermediate  body  which 
unites  spirit  and  matter.  This  body  can  detach 
itself  from  the  outward  form  but  never  from  the 
spirit. 

In  my  long  and  exhaustive  study  of  mesmer- 
ism I  demonstrated  to  my  entire  satisfaction  the 
existence  of  such  a  body.  I  care  not  what  you 
call  it,  it  is  there  just  the  same,  and  what  is 
known  as  death  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
the  breaking  of  the  connection  between  it  and 
the  outward  body. 

The  tendency  of  what  we  call  education 
is   largely  toward    exalting   the   intellect   over 


INTRODUCTION  19 

character,  depriving  us  of  that  spontaneity  of 
thought  and  action  through  which  alone  we  can 
progress.  Why  should  we  drag  along  with  us 
that  which  has  been  but  is  not  ?  "  Let  the 
dead  past  bury  its  dead." 

There  is  no  idea,  however  absurd,  that  does 
not  find  a  lodgment  in  some  one's  brain. 

The  first  glow  of  morning  is  the  promise  of 
to-day,  not  yesterday  nor  to-morrow.  Instinc- 
tively we  shrink  from  those  immodest  persons 
who  fain  would  have  us  believe  that  they  have 
developed  along  the  lines  of  St.  Cecilia's  cher- 
ubs, hypocritically  denying  their  material  rela- 
tions and  claiming  to  have  arisen  above  their 
animal  natures,  ignoring  everything  to  which 
they  owe  their  existence  in  this  world,  and  with- 
out which  earth  would  become  a  desolation,  and, 
by  implication,  arraigning  the  Divine  Intelligence 
for  creating  us  as  we  are. 

Do  you  for  a  moment  suppose  that  it  was  in- 
tended by  the  Creator  that  there  should  be  a 
conflict  between  the  spirit  and  the  body  through 
which  it  expresses  itself? 


20  INTRODUCTION 

/^Fortunately  our  puny  efforts  to  reform  the 
1  world  meet  with  no  response.  Nature's  laws 
(  require  neither  judge  nor  jury.  They  execute 
I  themselves. 

There  is  nothing  prosaic  or  commonplace  in 
this  world  unless,  through  our  lack  of  apprecia- 
tion, we  make  it  so.  In  the  fulness  and  richness 
of  our  natures,  in  that  receptivity  of  mind  which 
ought  always  to  abide  with  us,  we  instinctively 
turn  to  the  marvellous  beauty  of  the  world  and 
the  Divine  Intelligence  that  everywhere  per- 
vades it.  Freed  from  the  baffling  influences  of 
intellectual  disease  the  inspiration  of  a  true  life 
comes  to  us  as  freely  as  the  air  we  breathe. 


THE  WORLD  WE  LIVE  IN 


From  out  the  unseen  world  there  springs 
In  wondrous  beauty,  all  living  things. 
A  countless  host  whose  onward  trend 
Is  through  all  time.     Who  knows  the  end } 

Who  comprehends  the  mighty  force 
That  swung  the  planets  on  their  course, 
And  through  the  realms  of  endless  space 
Still  guides  and  holds  them  in  their  place } 

Who  knows  the  time  they  first  begun 

Their  ceaseless  journey  round  the  sun, 

Or  aught  of  that  sidereal  sweep 

That  bears  them  through  the  boundless  deep  ? 

Still  swells  the  tide,  within,  without. 
Whether  we  fear,  or  hope,  or  doubt. 
Resistless  rolls  the  mighty  flow 
Of  life.     The  end  —  ah,  who  can  know  ? 


THE  WORLD  WE  LIVE  IN 

To  be  in  close  sympathy  with  Nature ; 
to  see  and  realize  her  wonderful  beauty ; 
to  be  at  oneness  with  her  marvellous 
manifestations,  is  the  highest  possible 
attainment.  Her  laws  are  few  and  simple, 
but  to  their  requirements  she  demands 
unqualified  allegiance,  abating  not  one 
iota  of  her  just  claims.  No  matter  how 
wise  you  think  you  are,  you  cannot  evade 
her;  in  the  end  she  compels  you  to  sur- 
render. She  stints  nothing,  scattering 
her  favors  everywhere  with  a  bountiful 
hand,  filling  the  earth  with  the  glory  of 
her  presence. 

Gentle  as  the  evening  wind  that  whis- 
pers through  the  pines  she  speaks  to 
those  who  can  commune  with  her. 


26  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

Of  all  her  varied  productions,  man 
alone  seems  to  rebel  against  her.  Not 
through  his  affections  nor  his  true  char- 
acter, but  through  his  intellect,  which 
is  irresponsible  and  devoid  of  moral 
element. 

These  mental  activities  are  due  to  a 
self-conceit  that  pretends  to  know  what 
cannot  be  known.  The  world  has  been 
deluged  with  speculations  and  theories 
creating  a  delusive  mirage  that  floats 
through  our  mental  atmosphere. 

Many  of  these  theories  are  short-lived, 
dying  in  infancy  —  the  abortive  efforts  of 
weak  minds.  The  trail  of  human  prog- 
ress is  strewn  with  the  skeletons  of  ex- 
ploded theories.  So  long  as  they  stood 
alone  they  were  comparatively  harmless, 
but  when  they  masqueraded  in  borrowed 
garments,  attaching  themselves  to  secta- 
rian dogmas,  they  became  responsible  for 
much  that  we  call  crime. 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  27 

Of  this  character  is  the  Mosaic  theory 
of  the  creation  of  the  world.  For  thou- 
sands of  years  it  was  the  prevailing  belief 
of  both  Jews  and  Christians,  and  to  call 
it  in  question  was  heresy  punishable  by 
torture    or   death. 

When  Science  by  its  slow  accumulation 
of  facts  sapped  and  undermined  it,  the 
whole  structure  fell  to  pieces.  Its  ruins 
still  loom  on  the  horizon  of  the  past,  —  a 
monument  of  intellectual  folly. 

Science  proved  by  unassailable  facts 
that  the  world  could  not  have  been  cre- 
ated in  six  days ;  that  if  it  were  ever 
created  it  must  have  been  millions  of 
years  before  man  appeared  on  its  surface. 

Scientists,  opposed  and  sometimes  per- 
secuted by  the  believers  in  old  theology, 
naturally  gravitated  to  the  other  extreme, 
and  their  efforts  have  been,  so  far  as  possi- 
ble, to  discredit  all  belief  in  a  divine 
creation. 


28  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

It  is  to  their  credit  that  they  emanci- 
pated themselves  from  all  sectarian  dog- 
mas and  the  follies  and  superstitions  of 
the  age ;  that,  regardless  of  opposition, 
they  stood  manfully  in  the  defence  of 
what  they  believed  to  be  true. 

That  they  should  have  developed  some- 
thing of  that  tyranny  from  which  they  had 
escaped,  and  committed  follies  of  their 
own,  was  to  be  expected.  Nor  is  it  to  be 
wondered  at  that,  in  the  pursuit  of  prosaic 
facts,  they  should  sometimes  have  been 
led  into  the  free  play  of  intellectual  and 
imaginative  thought. 

The  mistake  has  been  that  the  public 
has  not  discriminated  between  theory  and 
fact.  The  search  after  the  unknown  is 
like  the  game  of  blind-man's  buff,  —  the 
chances  are  that  the  wrong  fellow  is 
caught. 

The  void  created  by  the  destruction 
of   the    Mosaic   fable    was   quickly   filled. 


THE    WORLD    WE   LIVE  IN  29 

Scientists,  not  satisfied  with  the  splendid 
work  they  had  done,  attempted  to  form  a 
theory  of  their  own. 

Away  back  in  the  ages  of  which  no 
possible  record  can  be  known,  there  ex- 
isted a  great  fire-mist,  extending  beyond 
the  farthest  orbit  of  our  system.  This 
fire-mist  gradually  condensed  into  what  is 
known  as  our  sun.  In  its  gaseous  and 
fluidic  state,  in  consequence  of  its  rotary 
motion,  it  threw  off  a  series  of  rings,  which 
in  time  became  planets  circulating  around 
the  sun.  Each  successive  ring  was  smaller 
than  the  previous  one.  Each  was  so  ad- 
justed by  the  amount  of  matter  it  con- 
tained that  no  opposing  attraction  could 
turn  it  out  of  its  course. 

Mercury  was  the  last  successful  effort 
in  propagating  planets.  The  sun  is  grow- 
ing old  and  no  more  babies  can  be  ex- 
pected from  her.  There  is  no  room  for 
them. 


30  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

This  interesting  theory  may  contain 
some  truth,  but  as  an  explanation  of  the 
creation  it  is  a  failure,  —  at  best,  a  torso, 
without  head,  arms  or  legs.  It  does  not 
tell  what  created  this  fire-mist,  of  what  it 
was  composed,  what  caused  it  to  take  fire, 
what  fed  the  fire,  how  or  why  it  hap- 
pened to  be  in  that  place  at  that  time. 

What  caused  it  to  gravitate  and  form 
the  sun.?  What  caused  the  rotary  mo- 
tion which  caused  it  to  throw  off  these 
rings  that  gravitated  into  planets  }  What 
gave  them  their  rotary  motion  and  sent 
them  whirling  around  the  sun  t 

To  all  these  questions  Science  makes 

no  satisfactory  reply. 

i      Is  there  not  in  all  these  wonderful  mani- 

j  testations  evidence  of  an  invisible  intelli- 

[  gence  that  builds  and  controls  everything.? 

Having  disposed  of  sun  and  planets, 
Scientists  next  endeavored  to  account  for 
life  on  this  earth.     The  planet  was  still  a 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  31 

great  ball  of  incandescent  matter  rolling 
through  space.  Slowly  it  began  to  cool 
off  and  form  a  crust  on  its  surface.  The 
rains  from  the  atmosphere  fell  upon  it,  the 
water  was  converted  into  steam,  rose  and 
fell  again,  and  by  constant  repetition  as- 
sisted in  carrying  off  the  heat.  No  effort 
was  made  to  account  for  this  atmosphere 
oFof  the  water  that  now  covers  four-fifths 
of  the  globe. 

Clouds  and  rain  are  due  to  particles  of 
dust  floating  in  the  air,  which  gather  the 
moisture,  and  the  supposed  character  of 
earth's  surface  at  that  time  would  make  it 
improbable  that  any  such  condition  could 
have  existed. 

It  was  claimed  that  the  earth  in  cooling 
was  shrinking,  growing  smaller.  It  now 
appears  that  the  reverse  is  true;  that  "its 
bulk  is  increasing  from  age  to  age  by 
meteoric  stones  and  shooting  stars  that 
constantly  fall   upon    it,   more    than    one 


32  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

hundred  thousand  millions   per   annum." 

It  is  probable  that  the  sun  and  all  the 

planets  receive  similar  contributions. 

r    Such  constant  fertilization  is  enough  to 

/  compensate  for  any  loss  of  magnetic  forces 

I  that  might  occur.     It  assures  the  contin- 

\   uation  of  what  we  call  material  life  through 

all  time. 

As  the  harmony  of  the  universe  de- 
pends upon  its  relative  proportions  this 
constant  growth  may  in  time  lead  to  a 
change  in  the  orbits. 

If  we  were  disposed  to  formulate  a  the- 
ory of  world  building,  —  which  we  are  not, 
—  we  might  suggest  that  the  sun  and 
planets,  starting  from  a  small  vortex,  may 
have  been  built  up  by  the  aggregation  of 
particles  which  through  the  ages  have 
been  and  are  now  falling  upon  them,  suffi- 
cient to  account  for  their  present  propor- 
tions; and  this  suggestion  gathers  strength 
from  the  fact  that  everything  of   which 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  33 

we  have  any  knowledge  appears  to  have 
started  from  small  beginnings.  The  inter- 
nal heat  may  be  due  to  the  immense 
pressure  exerted  by  gravitation. 

Light  and  heat  are  necessary  to  sustain 
material  life.     Scientists  found  this  in  the 
radiation   from   the   sun.      From   its   im- 
mense size  it  had  not  cooled  off.     It  was 
still   in   an   incandescent   state,  seething, 
boiling,  sending  off  vast  flames  of  burning 
hydrogen.     They  endeavored  to  calculate 
the  intensity  of  its  heat,  the  relative  pro- 
portion each  planet  received,  and  last,  but 
not  least,  how  long  it  would  take  for  it  to 
be  consumed,  leaving  the  planets  in  total 
darkness,  covered  with   ice,  dead  worlds 
whirling  through  space. 
I    No  one  need  put  on  ascension  robes  or 
lower   the   price   of   real-estate   in  conse- 
quence of  this  sublime  prediction. 

The   higher  we   ascend   in  our  atmos- 
phere the  colder  it  grows.     On  the  tops  of 


34  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

high  mountains  are  perpetual  snow  and 
ice.  With  the  same  ratio  of  decreasing 
heat,  at  the  verge  of  our  atmosphere  there 
must  be  intense  cold  and  darkness. 

There  lie  between  us  and  the  sun 
more  than  ninety-two  million  miles  of 
this  cold.  No  heat  that  the  sun  could 
generate  would  radiate  through  one  thou- 
sandth part  of  this  immense  area. 

Heat  and  light  are  not  due  to  radia- 
tion, but  to  magnetic  emanations  passing 
through  atmosphere,  and  the  amount  of 
heat  and  light  depends  upon  the  density 
or  rarity  of  that  atmosphere. 

According  to  the  theory  of  evolution, 
the  ocean,  in  consequence  of  its  restless 
character,  its  high  winds  and  waves  break- 
ing on  the  shore,  grinding  the  rocks  to 
powder,  was  gradually  fitted  to  sustain  the 
lowest  form  of  life.  This  made  its  ap- 
pearance in  jelly-like  seaweed,  and  cluster- 
ing over  this  were  millions  of  microbes. 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  35 

invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  containing 
in  themselves  "  the  potency  and  possi- 
bility of  all  that  is  or  has  been." 

Through  this  wonderful  theory  of  evolu- 
tion they  continued  to  develop  one  form 
above  another  until,  tired  of  their  old 
home,  some  of  them  crawled  out  of  the 
sea  on  to  the  land,  where,  through  contin- 
ued evolution  of  species  and  the  survival 
of  the  fittest,  they  reached  a  point  where 
one  of  them  from  walking  on  all  fours 
stood  erect,  a  man, —  in  his  own  conceit 
"  lord  of  the  fowl  and  the  brute." 

To-day,  he  is  at  the  head  of  our  boasted 
civilization,  rolling  in  wealth,  —  trying  to 
see  how  far  above  his  ancestry  he  can  rise 
without  falling. 

And  what  of  his  companion,  —  too  often 
his  slave,  the  plaything  of  his  leisure 
hours,  robed  in  silks,  bedecked  with  pearls 
and  diamonds,  flaunting  her  fancied  superi- 
ority in  the  face  of   common   humanity? 


36  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

What  of  her  ?  Only  an  improved  microbe. 
For  ages  she  lay  under  the  sea,  till  she 
became  a  clam,*  and  in  the  long  ages  that 
followed,  a  slimy  monster.  Step  by  step 
she  climbed  in  search  of  her  mate. 

Her  nearest  relatives  are  monkeys.  Are 
there  still  lingering  inherited  traits  that 
crop  out  in  the  fantastic  follies  of  fashion- 
able life } 

Glance  back  over  the  long  line  of 
descent.  Is  there  anything  there  to  build 
up  ancestral  pride  t  If  man  was  evolved 
from  the  monkey,  it  does  not  appear  in 
some  things  to  be  much  of  an  evolution. 

If  this  theory  of  evolution  means  any- 
thing, it  means  the  descent  of  man 
through  all  the  lower  forms  of  animal 
life.  It  sweeps  away  with  the  force  of  an 
avalanche  every  vestige  of  ancestral  pride, 
and  leaves  man  nothing  but  an  improved 

*The  motto  of  the  elder  Darwin  —  "Everything  from  a 
clam." 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  37 

monkey.  Beyond  this  scientists  do  not 
go.  They  simply  say  that  the  existence 
of  spirit  is  not  proven,  and  by  implication 
does  not  exist. 

Scientists  who  had  contributed  so  much 
to  the  knowledge  of  mankind,  who  had 
weighed  the  earth  as  in  a  balance,  like 
young  robins  opened  their  mouths  and 
swallowed  this  theory  with  all  its  possi- 
bilities, without  the  slightest  protest.  No 
gullibility  which  led  to  the  acceptance  of 
religious  superstition  could  surpass  this 
credulity. 

/^^  Scientific  conclusions,  unless  sustained 
by     the    accumulation    of     unanswerable 

'  facts,  are  worthless.  If  these  theories  of 
evolution  are  true,  it  must  have  been  in 
progress  for  millions  of  years  and  still 
operative,  and  among  the  many  living 
forms  some  evidence  of  the  transition 
should  be  visible.  But  of  all  the  hun- 
dreds of  species  that  for  ages  have  been 


38  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

under  close  observation  not  a  single  in- 
stance of  such  a  change  has  been  seen. 
The  forms  and  habits  of  birds  and  animals 
may  to  some  extent  be  changed  by  culture 
and  favorable  conditions,  but  in  no  case 
can  the  dividing  line  between  species  be 
passed.  We  may,  in  some  instances,  by 
force,  not  inclination,  debauch  closely  allied 
species,  such  as  the  horse  and  the  ass,  but 
Nature  abhors  the  bantling  and  forbids 
further  propagation. 

Evolution  of  species  is  a  theory  without 
any  living  evidence  to  sustain  it,' — an  ab- 
ortive effort  to  explain  the  unknowable 
by  methods  that  do  not  explain,  —  to  sub- 
stitute a  blind  force  in  the  place  of  divine 
intelligence. 

Closely  following  on  the  heels  of  evo- 
lution of  species  came  the  "survival  of 
the  fittest."  It  is  astonishing  with  what 
alacrity  this  flippant  expression  swept 
over    the    civilized    world.      Possibly,    it 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  39 

appealed  to  our  vanity,  for  we  who  are 
still  alive  are  a  survival  of  the  fittest, 
those  who  died  early  were  not  fit  to  live. 

Here,  again,  as  in  the  evolution  of  spe- 
cies, there  is  no  evidence  to  sustain  the 
theory.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  survival 
of  the  most  favored.  Everywhere  nature 
attests  this  truth.  The  lines  of  progress 
are  always  along  the  most  favorable  con- 
ditions. It  is  the  scrawny,  ungainly  brute 
that  overpowers  the  higher  and  more  finely 
organized  forms.  When  the  wolves  were 
driven  out  of  Maine,  the  woods  became  full 
of  deer.  A  few  rabbits  dropped  in  Aus- 
tralia increased  and  overran  the  country, 
for  they  had  no  enemies. 

If  you  ask  the  farmer  about  his  crops, 
he  will  tell  you  that  he  plows  the  ground, 
manures  it,  plants  his  corn  and  carefully 
keeps  down  the  weeds  so  that  nothing 
will  interfere  with  its  growth.  If  you  tell 
him  that  the  scientific  way  is  to  trust  to 


r,A*nA* 


40  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

natural  selection  and  the  survival  of  the 
fittest,  he  would  tell  you  that  there  would 
be  nothing  but  weeds.  If  he  is  at  all 
irritable  and  lacking  in  respect  for  high 
authority,  he  may  possibly  tell  you  that 
there  is  no  fool  like  a  scientific  fool. 

('^  It  was  opportunity  that  made  Lincoln 
president  when  great  executive  ability  was 
required.  It  was  opportunity  that  enabled 
Grant  to  control  the  largest  army,  over  the 
widest  extent  of  territory,  ever  controlled 
by  one  man.  The  world  is  full  of  great 
/men  and  women  kept  in  the  background 
•from  lack  of  opportunity. 

Underlying  these  comparatively  harm- 
less theories  of  the  creation  of  the  world 
and  the  evolution  of  the  species,  there  has 
existed  through  all  ages  a  mental  disease 
accountable  for  much  crime  and  great  suf- 
fering. The  cause  of  that  disease  (the 
microbes  that  are  responsible  for  it)  is 
still  open  to  investigation. 


THE    WORLD    WE   LIVE  IN  41 

Scientists  have  not  yet  settled  the  ques- 
tion whether  microbes  cause  disease  or 
are  the  result  of  disease. 

In  the  infinitesimal  microbe  the  passions 
may  be  as  strong  as  in  the  higher  forms, 
and  these  microbes  may  be  avenging  them- 
selves on  those  who  so  unceremoniously 
left  them. 

The  primitive  savage  in  his  ignorance 
attributed  everything  to  a  good  or  a  bad 
spirit.  Brave  in  war  or  in  the  pursuit  of 
game,  before  these  imaginary  deities  he 
became  the  most  abject  coward.  To 
appease  their  wrath  or  gain  their  favor 
he  conceived  the  idea  of  the  sacrifice 
of  innocent  life,  and  in  some  cases 
human  beings  were  substituted  for  ani- 
mals. 

This  sacrifice  was  a  leading  feature  in 
the  Jewish  religion.  It  was  claimed  that 
the  smell  of  burnt  offerings  was  a  savory 
odor  in  the  nostrils  of  Jehovah. 


42  THE    WORLD   WE  LIVE  IN 

Later,  in  a  somewhat  modified  form, 
Christians  adopted  the  same  idea. 

Christ  was  offered  up  to  appease  the 
wrath  of  the  Father.  He  was  supposed 
to  have  taken  upon  himself  the  sins  of 
the  world,  to  have  died  to  save  sinners. 
Without  this  vicarious  atonement  no  one 
could  reach  Heaven. 

It  seems  strange  that  any  one  who  un- 
derstands human  life,  its  individualities 
and  its  responsibilities,  could  have  ac- 
cepted any  such  idea.  No  one  can  as- 
sume the  sins  of  another.  Each  one  is 
responsible  for  his  own  errors.  It  is  in 
vain  that  he  pleads  that  some  one  else 
has  paid  the  penalty. 

Hand  in  hand  with  the  theory  of  sacri- 
fice came  the  idea  of  the  debasement  of 
the  human  body,  that  it  was  vile,  the  child 
of  the  Devil.  All  evils  were  attributed  to 
the  sins  of  the  flesh  and  it  was  our  duty 
to  cripple  it,  to  inflict  upon  it  all  sorts  of 


THE   WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  43 

penance,  that  by  so  doing  we  should  exalt 
our  souls  and  please  God. 

Men  inflicted  upon  themselves  horrible 
tortures.  Some  made  long  pilgrimages  to 
shrines  over  roads  strewn  with  bodies  of 
those  who  had  perished  by  the  way. 
Some  spent  their  lives  in  prayer.  Others, 
disgusted  with  the  world,  retired  to  caves 
where  they  passed  their  lives  in  self-abase- 
ment, stretching  out  their  skinny  hands  to 
every  passer-by  for  alms.  Some,  dressed 
in  uncouth  garments,  wandered  up  and 
down  the  land  begging.  Some  turned 
monks,  retiring  to  monasteries  where  they 
were  supposed  to  live  hcjy,  austere  lives. 

Woman,  owing  to  her  more  sensitive 
nature,  her  higher  and  finer  organization, 
sometimes  hysterical  and  under  hypnotic 
influences,  fled  to  convents.  What  takes 
place  within  these  walls  the  world  does 
not  know.  They  are  the  only  institutions 
not  open  to  the  public,  and  over  which 


44  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

the  government  has  no  supervision.  They 
exist  here  under  that  priceless  boon,  the 
right  to  think  and  do  pretty  much  as  we 
please  so  long  as  we  claim  that  it  is  our 
religion. 

Some  of  the  devotees  of  these  unfor- 
tunate institutions  appear  in  public  on 
the  streets.  The  listless  tread,  the  thin 
pale  faces,  the  unmistakable  gloom  of 
decay  show  plainly  that  Nature  is  de- 
manding the  penalty  for  the  violation  of 
her  laws. 

In  the  onward  march  of  human  prog- 
ress, it  is  essential  that  every  one  should, 
so  far  as  possible,  maintain  a  healthy  body 
and  a  sound  mind.  If  it  is  good  for  any 
class  of  persons  to  immolate  themselves 
in  this  way,  it  is  good  for  all,  and  the  uni- 
versal acceptance  of  such  a  life  would 
speedily  end  the  human  race. 

How  strange,  how  sad  this  debasement, 
this  degradation   of  woman,  who,  in  the 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  45 

fulness  of  her  nature,  in  her  true  indi- 
viduality, in  her  noble  aspirations,  in  the 
glory  and  splendor  of  her  organization,  is 
the  highest  embodiment  of  life ! 

To  degrade  her,  to  deprive  her  of  her 
just  inheritance  is  a  crime  against  human- 
ity and  the  infinite  intelligence  that  cre- 
ated her. 

Somewhat  modified  and  with  lessening 
force,  the  sectarian  theories  of  the  past 
still  permeate  the  civilization  of  to-day. 
Most  of  the  churches  still  cling  to  old  and 
exploded  dogmas.  There  is  a  refined 
egotism  and  exclusiveness  in  their  organ- 
ization. 

Many  of  them  do  not  fraternize  with 
each  other,  much  less  the  outside  world. 

The  modest  pastor  claims  to  be  the 
shepherd  of  his  flock.  He  gathers  his 
sheep  into  his  fold,  henceforth  they  are 
his  slaves.  They  dare  not  reason  or  call 
in  question  anything  that  pertains  to  their 


46  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

creed.  In  his  efforts  to  define  the  impor- 
tance of  church  life  and  the  dividing  Hne 
between  it  and  the  outside  world,  he 
makes  much  of  the  parable  of  the  sheep 
and  the  goats. 

Unfortunately  for  the  parable,  the  goat 
is  the  higher  organized  animal.  He  is 
independent  and  aggressive  and  there  is 
no  wool  growing  over  his  eyes  to  prevent 
his  seeing  that  a  free,  open  life  is  better 
than  a  sheep-pen. 

Based  on  old  and  doubtful  traditions, 
Christians  cherish  a  belief  in  a  future  life. 

And  what  a  life  it  is !  Instead  of  being 
a  continuation  of  this,  with  all  its  human- 
ity, its  joys  and  endearments,  it  is  "the 
eternal  city  "  whose  streets  are  paved  with 
gold,  the  great  white  throne  around  which 
the  saints  sing  hallelujahs  forever,  while 
over  its  battlements  gleam  the  fires  of 
Hell. 

The   answer    to   all   these    intellectual 


4 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  47 

vagaries  is  that  matter  is  eternal,  you  can- 
not destroy  one  particle  of  it ;  that  every- 
thing in  this  world  is  a  direct  emanation 
from  the  Divine  Intelligence.  Spirit  can- 
not express  itself  except  through  matter. 
The  polarity  between  spirit  and  matter 
exists  everywhere,  even  in  the  most  minute 
particle. 

All  matter,  however  solid,  was  once  in 
an  invisible,  gaseous  state  and  can  be 
again  resolved  into  its  original  condition. 
Whether  visible  or  invisible  it  is  still 
matter. 

Your  body  is  as  sacred  as  your  spirit 
and  all  theorizing  or  speculation  about 
sacrificing  it  or  any  part  of  it  is  the  worst 
possible  mental  disease.  So  long  as  you 
live  in  this  world  there  can  be  no  di- 
vorce from  it,  no  dividing  line  between 
the  two. 

You  cannot  debase  the  one  without 
degrading  the  other. 


48  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

You  need  not  trouble  yourself  as  to 
your  spirituality.  The  talk  about  it  is 
largely  a  meaningless  fad.  Deep  down  in 
your  heart,  welling  up  through  your  daily 
life,  expressed  in  love  and  kindness  to 
others,  is  all  the  spirituality  you  need  in 
this  world. 

Take  care  of  your  body  and  your  spirit 
will  take  care  of  itself.  Your  mental  suf- 
ferings are  the  result  ot  deflected  spiritual 
forces  through  an  imperfect  body.  The  po- 
larity between  spirit  and  body  is  at  fault 

There  is  no  expressed  intelligence  with- 
out organization  and  no  organization  out- 
side of  matter.  If  you  destroy  my  visible 
body  I  can  no  longer  express  myself 
through  it. 

Both  my  visible  and  my  invisible  body 
come  under  the  universal  law  of  spirit  ex- 
pressing itself  through  matter. 

Because  I  recognize  the  equality  of  mat- 
ter and  spirit  —  the  necessity  of  a  material 


\. 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  49 

existence  —  am  I  a  materialist  ?  I  answer 
yes  and  no.  It  requires  both  matter  and 
spirit  to  constitute  an  organized  intelli- 
gent being.  Otherwise  there  can  be  no 
conscious  individual  existence. 

I  am  not  trying  to  build  up  any  new- 
fangled theory.  I  simply  announce  what 
seems  to  be  the  only  reasonable  ground  on 
which  a  claim  to  a  continued  existence 
after  death  can  be  maintained,  —  the 
equality  of  spirit  and  matter.  Death  drops 
the  husk,  but  that  intermediate  material 
body  which  united  the  two  still  adheres 
to  the  spirit.  The  cleavage  in  no  way  im- 
pairs the  conscious  individual  organization. 

The  evolution  of  matter  —  and  there  is 
no  other  evolution  —  is  always  in  the  direc- 
tion of  the  invisible,  toward  that  condition 
which  enables  the  spirit  to  more  freely  ex- 
press itself. 

Those  who  have  carefully  studied  the 
phenomena  of  mesmerism  understand  that 


50  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

in  the  trance  state  the  connection  between 
the  inner  organization  of  the  subject  and 
its  outer  body  is,  for  the  time  being,  either 
partially  or  wholly  suspended,  and  that  the 
physical  body  is  held  in  abeyance  by  the 
magnetic  control  of  the  mesmerizer.  In- 
juries inflicted  on  the  mesmerized  subject 
are  not  recognized,  but  if  applied  to  the 
mesmerizer  the  entranced  subject  instantly 
responds  to  it,  the  same  as  if  applied  to 
the  subject  in  its  normal  state. 

In  complete  trance,  if  the  mesmerizer 
should  be  instantly  killed,  the  entranced 
person  might  not  regain  the  control  of 
his  body  and  a  double  tragedy  would 
ensue. 

It  is  to  be  observed  that  the  spirit  of 
the  entranced  subject,  in  relation  to  its 
own  body,  is  precisely  what  it  would  be  in 
what  we  call  death.  Its  connection  with 
the  outer_world  is,  for  the  time,  broken, 
and,  except  under  certain  conditions,  it  can 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  51 

no  longer  manifest  itself  to  our  outward 
senses. 

The  American  branch  of  the  Society 
of  Psychical  Research,  in  its  blundering 
after  evidence  of  another  life,  appears  to 
have  entirely  overlooked  this  important 
fact. 

Mesmerism  is  not  only  an  evidence  of 
[continued  life  after  death,  it  also  opens 
the  door  to  unlimited  knowledge. 

To  those  who  are  interested  in  this  sub- 
ject, who  are  naturally  fitted  for  such  in- 
vestigation, whose  minds  are  not  distracted 
by  preconceived  ideas,  it  becomes  a  most 
absorbing  study,  opening  new  avenues 
to  knowledge  not  obtainable  in  any  other 
way. 

It  is,  however,  a  sensitive  phenomenon, 
requiring  perfect  freedom  of  action.  The 
moment  we  try  to  force  our  personality  on 
it,  or  in  any  way  interfere  with  its  spon- 
taneity, it  becomes  deflected,  elusive  and 


52  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN 

Utterly  valueless  to  the  investigator.  It  is 
the  most  far-reaching  manifestation  con- 
nected with  life,  pervading  everything,  the 
connecting  link  between  all  forms.  With- 
out it  we  could  have  no  consciousness  of 
anything,  no  perception  of  individuality, 
of  the  affections,  of  character  or  relations 
to  another  state  of  existence.  There  is  no 
difference  between  it  and  trance  medium- 
ship  except  that  in  the  latter  case  the 
operator,  instead  of  being  on  this  side  of 
life,  is  on  the  other,  holding  control  of  the 
medium's  body,  the  same  as  the  mesmerist 
holds  it  here. 

The  apparent  increase  in  force  and 
clearness  of  spiritual  expression  is  always 
due  to  the  evolution  of  matter  toward  the 
invisible. 

Mesmerism  has  been  known  for  ages 
among  Oriental  nations,  but  is  compara- 
tively new  in  Europe  and  in  this  country, 
where  it  has   more   or   less   become   the 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  53 

plaything  of  itinerant  lecturers  and,  un- 
der the  name  of  hypnotism,  the  folly  of 
pseudo-scientists.  No  one  has  yet  ap- 
peared broad  enough  to  comprehend  its 
true  character. 

No  matter  what  theories  or  speculations 
may  be  put  forth,  this  truth  remains, 
whether  in  this  world  or  the  invisible 
world,  the  existence  of  matter  is  necessary 
to  the  expression  of  conscious  individual 
life. 

From  the  theories  of  scientists  and 
gloomy  speculations  of  decaying  theology 
we  turn  to  the  all-pervading  manifestations 
of  divine  nature. 

We  wander  through  the  fields  and  forest, 
linger  beneath  the  overhanging  vines,  drink 
in  the  fresh  air  laden  with  the  breath  of 
flowers,  listen  to  the  birds  as  they  call  to 
each  other  from  the  groves,  the  drowsy  hum 
of  bees,  heard  but  not  seen,  the  chirping  of 
insects,  see  the  delicate,  sensitive  flowers 


54  THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IJV 

that  shrink  at  a  touch,  frightened  at  the 
rudeness,  the  vines  that  creep  and  turn  to 
the  light,  the  great  trees  with  outstretched 
arms,  the  quivering  leaves  that  echo  the 
passing  breeze,  the  fields  of  grass,  of  grain 
that  undulate  like  the  waves  of  the  sea. 

Down  from  the  dusky  glen,  like  the 
plaintive  voice  of  some  lone  spirit,  come 
the  liquid  notes  of  the  hermit  thrush. 
Around  us  everywhere  what  wonderful 
materializations ! 

What  richness  and  fulness  of  life !  The 
millions  of  forms,  each  selecting,  rejecting 
and  appropriating  to  itself  only  that  which 
is  necessary  to  its  own  individuality. 

Do  you  think  you  can  explain  these 
things  by  attributing  them  to  chemical 
action,  to  electricity,  to  gravitation,  to 
magnetic  attraction  of  particles,  or  to  the 
evolution  of  microbes?  If  so,  your  cre- 
dulity has  made  a  fool  of  you,  for  you 
know  no  more  about  one  than  the  other. 


THE    WORLD    WE  LIVE  IN  55 

You  may  greet  them  with  the  freshness  of 
childhood  or  the  earnestness  that  belongs 
to  maturer  life,  yet  you  shall  not  penetrate 
the  Divine  Mystery  that  called  them  into 
existence. 

Standing  on  the  verge  of  that  change 
which  comes  to  all,  I  should  feel  sad  in- 
deed to  think  that  these  things,  one  and 
all,  did  not  pertain  to  another  life. 

Whatever  may  be  your  station,  your 
surroundings,  the  closer  you  adhere  to 
Nature,  the  more  you  realize  her  simplicity 
and  wonderful  beauty,  the  greater  will  be 
your  progress,  both  material  and  spiritual, 
and  the  happier  you  will  be. 

In  the  complete  union  of  soul  and  body, 
—  the  oneness  of  both,  —  you  realize  your 
relations  to  the  Divine  Universe  and  are 
open  to  the  unseen  intelligences  that 
everywhere  surround  you,  and  are  fulfilling 
the  mission  for  which  you  were  sent  into 
the  world. 


The  worthless  past  still  haunts  the  plain 
Of  daily  life.     Foolish  and  vain 
We  catch  at  things  that  ne'er  again 
Can  have  a  home  in  a  healthy  brain. 
With  slavish  fear  and  childish  dread, 
We  cling  to  forms,  the  ghostly  dead, 
Whose  slow  decay  and  withering  blight 
Veil  from  our  eyes  the  coming  light. 


THROUGH    THE    AGES 

From  the  earliest  history  down  to  a 
comparatively  recent  date,  all  nations  were 
controlled  by  a  religious  despotism,  creat- 
ing a  mental  bondage  far  more  degrading 
than  physical  slavery. 

The  Jews,  claiming  to  be  the  chosen 
people  of  God,  punished  with  death  the 
slightest  violation  of  the  Mosaic  law. 
Even  Greece,  with  its  matchless  art  and 
refinement,  condemned  Socrates  to  death 
for  speaking  lightly  of  the  gods.  Rome, 
with  its  robust,  half  barbaric  life,  was  more 
occupied  in  conquering  other  nations  than 
in  enforcing  her  pagan  religion ;  still  many 
suffered  for  disregarding  pagan  rites,  and 
few  things  were  undertaken  without  first 
consulting  the  oracles. 
59 


6o  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  Roman  civil- 
ization that  there  appeared  in  Palestine  a 
most  remarkable  man,  whose  name  was 
destined  to  go  down  through  all  time. 
Not  that  he  advocated  sectarian  or 
church  organization,  for  nowhere  did  he 
teach  or  even  suggest  anything  of  the 
kind,  but  for  his  wonderful  embodiment  of 
a  pure  democracy  —  the  brotherhood  of 
man,  epitomized  in  the  one  sentence  — 
"that  ye  love  one  another."  His  was  the 
outpouring  of  a  noble  nature,  which  knew 
no  caste  nor  condition  save  that  of  human- 
ity. The  common  people  followed  him  in 
crowds,  listening  to  his  teachings. 

Let  it  be  remembered  that  his  was  not 
the  voice  of  one  seeking  to  relieve  them 
from  the  misery  of  another  world,  for  they 
had  no  distinct  idea  of  such  an  existence. 
It  was  the  hope  of  a  richer  and  freer  life; 
the  escape  from  a  religious  despotism  that 
crushed    out   all   individual    thought   and 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  6i 

action,  that  swayed  his  followers.  Those 
who  came  nearest  to  him,  who  understood 
his  pure  and  affectionate  nature,  learned 
to  love  him  with  a  devotion  even  to  the 
sacrifice  of  their  lives.  Many  of  the  mira- 
cles he  is  said  to  have  performed  are  re- 
peated at  the  present  time.  There  is  no 
better  description  of  modern  materializa- 
tion than  that  recorded  in  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  where  he  appeared  to  them  after 
his  death,  in  a  room  with  closed  doors. 
That  his  followers  understood  him  is  evi- 
dent from  the  statement  made  by  St.  Paul 
to  the  Corinthians,  "  If  I  give  all  my  goods 
to  feed  the  poor  and  give  my  body  to  be 
burned,  but  have  not  love,  it  availeth  me 
nothing." 

Tradition  may  have  thrown  around 
him  much  that  is  unreliable,  still  the  es- 
sential elements  of  his  character  remain 
unchanged.  Nowhere  does  history  re- 
cord another  such  remarkable  personality. 


62  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

Amid  tlie  despotism  of  a  materialistic  age 
he  stands  out  in  clear-cut  lines,  the  repre- 
sentative of  all  that  makes  for  a  better  life. 
Upon  the  charge  of  trying  to  subvert  the 
Jewish  religion,  he  was  put  to  death. 
Neither  his  crucifixion  nor  the  horrible 
slaughter  of  his  followers  at  Rome  served 
to  check  the  marvellous  uprising  of  the 
common  people. 

The  priests  and  rulers,  finding  that  they 
could  not  stop  it,  adroitly  turned  it  aside 
by  establishing  a  new  religion  in  his  name 
and  grafting  thereon  some  of  the  worst 
elements  of  paganism.  This  church  con- 
tained nothing  of  primitive  Christianity 
except  the  name.  Their  interpretation  of 
God  was  degrading.  The  children  He 
called  into  existence,  and  who  were  not  re- 
sponsible for  their  own  shortcomings.  He 
doomed  to  eternal  misery.  They  also 
deified  a  Devil  who  vied  with  the  Al- 
mighty   in    the   control    of   the  universe. 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  63 

Not  a  very  honest  fellow,  for  he  some- 
times took  more  than  his  share,  but  a  very 
convenient  scapegoat  to  bear  the  sins  of 
a  church  over  which,  at  times,  he  ap- 
peared to  hold  complete  sway. 

Splendid  temples  and  cathedrals  came 
into  existence.  Bishops,  priests,  monks 
and  friars  sprang  up  as  thick  as  briars 
in  a  deserted  field;  great,  sensuous  fel- 
lows, who  fed  on  the  fat  of  the  land, 
claiming  to  be  intermediates  between  God 
and  man,  wringing  out  of  heart-stricken 
humanity  the  hard  earnings  of  the  poor, 
on  the  plea  that  they  had  power  to 
get  the  souls  of  their  friends  out  of 
purgatory. 

Both  common  sense  and  reason  would 
suggest  that  it  would  be  well  to  deter- 
mine the  existence  of  such  a  place  before 
attempting  to  get  any  one  out  of  it. 

These  sensuous  representatives  of  this 
non-progressive  church  organization  have 


64  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

come  down  to  the  present  time.  They 
exist  and  will  continue  to  exist  so  long  as 
ignorance  and  superstition  form  a  part  of 
our  boasted  civilization. 

It  is  one  of  the  strange  things  growing 
out  of  our  artificial  life  that  such  fantastic 
delusions  could  for  a  moment  be  consid- 
ered as  in  any  way  representing  the  pure 
and  simple  teachings  of  the  humble  Naz- 
arene. 

With  the  decay  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
the  church  drifted  down  into  the  Dark 
Ages,  no  better,  and  perhaps  no  worse, 
than  its  surroundings. 

During  this  mental  gloom  that  swept 
over  all  Europe,  there  was  slowly  devel- 
oped a  crude,  barbaric  sense  of  freedom 
(idealized  in  the  character  of  Robin 
Hood);  a  blind  groping  after  a  free  ex- 
pression of  thought  and  action,  which  was 
destined  to  change  the  whole  trend  of 
sectarianism. 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  65 

It  is  a  mistake  to  attribute  the  Reforma- 
tion to  Luther.  It  dates  back  to  the  be- 
ginning of  this  barbaric  sense  of  freedom. 

When  civilization  emerged  from  this 
long  nightmare  of  degeneracy,  due  to  nat- 
ural evolution  and  not  to  so-called  Chris- 
tianity, a  terrible  conflict  ensued,  resulting 
in  the  torture  and  murder  of  thousands, 
until  the  record  of  sectarian  atrocities  sur- 
passed that  of  all  other  known  crimes. 

With  the  subsiding  of  these  horrors  and 
the  din  of  battle,  it  was  found  that  the 
Mother  Church  had  been  shattered  into  a 
hundred  different  sects,  each  claiming  a 
vital  principle,  and  warring  with  each 
other.  But  little  could  be  said  in  favor 
of  the  creed  of  the  reformers.  They  dif- 
fered but  slightly  from  the  Mother  Church, 
but  behind  them  all  was  an  irresistible 
force,  demanding  individual  right  to  think 
and  decide;  a  blind  sense  of  religious  free- 
dom. 


66  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

I  have  briefly  outlined,  without  detail, 
the  sectarian  elements  that  characterized 
the  so-called  Christian  Church,  showing 
that  the  Christ  never  taught  or  suggested 
sectarian  organizations;  that  his  mission 
was  of  a  pure  democracy,  the  brotherhood 
of  man;  that  the  Mother  Church  con- 
tained nothing  of  primitive  Christianity 
except  the  name;  that  nothing  could  be 
more  widely  different;  that  it  enriched 
itself  under  false  pretences;  that  it  was 
despotic  and  tyrannical,  degrading  alike 
to  God  and  humanity,  and  contained 
within  itself  the  elements  of  its  own  de- 
struction. 

It  was  while  these  loving  Christians  were 
cutting  each  other's  throats  that  Science, 
comparatively  unopposed,  advanced  on 
neutral  ground  and  established  itself  be- 
hind a  breastwork  of  unassailable  facts. 
Little  by  little,  year  by  year  it  has  ad- 
vanced its  pickets  until  Science,  and  not 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  67 

Theology,  has  become  authority.  It  was 
a  flank  movement  in  the  interest  of  a 
higher  civilization.  In  its  legitimate  sphere 
it  is  materialistic,  dealing  only  in  that 
which  can  be  proven.  Where  it  steps  out- 
side of  its  limits  to  speculate  and  theorize, 
it  ceases  to  be  authority,  and  becomes  the 
plaything  of  the  imagination. 

Scientists  dissected,  studied,  illustrated 
and  explained  that  splendid  machine  called 
man,  showing  the  wonderful  adaptability 
of  all  its  parts ;  but  scientific  methods  pre- 
vented the  discovery  of  its  creator,  or  the 
engineer  who  runs  it.  They  assumed  that 
it  was  evolved  from  the  lower  forms  of 
life ;  that  its  existence  was  due  to  chemi- 
cal action,  or  material  forces,  and  when  it 
gave  out,  death  ended  all.  It  was  not 
strange  that  from  their  standpoint  they 
should  have  arrived  at  such  conclusions, 
but  it  should  be  remembered  that  their 
theories  and  speculations  were  outside  of 


68  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

their  limits,  and  consequently  could  have 
no  scientific  standing. 

Man  is  essentially  a  religious  being, 
with  a  blind,  instinctive  groping  after  the 
unknown,  with  a  reactionary  element  that 
prompts  him  to  throw  out  an  anchor  to 
the  windward,  regardless  of  what  it  may 
fasten  to. 

The  great  sea  of  life  may  swell  and 
throb  around  him,  his  intuitions  and  aspira- 
tions may  pull  and  tug  at  the  chains  that 
prevent  his  progress.  His  relief  comes 
only  when  some  great  disturbance  or  up- 
heaval pushes  him  into  the  open  sea. 

Between  the  unassailable  ranks  of  pure 
science  and  the  fast  retreating  lines  of  old 
theology,  there  gradually  developed  a  wide 
space,  a  mental  territory,  unoccupied.  If 
it  had  any  character  of  its  own,  it  was 
sceptical  and  atheistical.  Under  the  evo- 
lution of  natural  laws,  which  must  neces- 
sarily   fill    all    space    with    mental    and 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  69 

spiritual  forces,  this  void  was  open  to 
whatever  influence  might  claim  it,  pro- 
vided it  was  in  advance  of  what  had  been. 
It  was  Nature's  method  of  clearing  the 
ground  for  a  higher  development. 

Suddenly  and  without  warning  there 
forged  to  the  front  a  wonderful  phenom- 
enon, traces  of  which  had  been  outlined  on 
the  horizon  of  all  nations.  It  claimed  to 
be  an  open  door  between  the  two  worlds ; 
a  direct  communing  with  those  who  once 
dwelt  on  this  side  of  life,  bearing  complete 
evidence  of  their  identity.  It  spread  with 
marvellous  rapidity  over  the  whole  civil- 
ized world.  During  the  past  fifty  years, 
millions  of  communications  have  been  re- 
ceived, all  purporting  to  come  from  the 
same  source. 

Individuals  may  falsify,  but  such  a  vast 
community  of  liars,  so  widely  separated, 
where  collusion  would  be  impossible,  is  an 
absurdity.    To-day  there  is  no  department 


7b  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

in  science  better  sustained  by  the  accumu- 
lation of  indisputable  facts  than  is  the 
existence  of  these  manifestations.  To 
deny  them  is  either  to  impeach  the  valid- 
ity of  all  human  testimony,  or  confess  to 
an  unbalanced  mind  incapable  of  weighing 
evidence.  These  communications  came 
to  all.  They  knew  neither  caste  nor  con- 
dition. Like  primitive  Christianity,  they 
were  gladly  received  by  the  common  peo- 
ple whose  minds  were  not  preoccupied, 
whose  common  sense  and  sympathy  en- 
abled them  to  approach  them  in  the  spirit 
of  kindness  so  necessary  for  their  full 
expression. 

The  fact  that  these  phenomena  prove 
—  or  claim  to  prove  —  a  continued  exist- 
ence after  what  is  called  death  should 
have  entitled  them  to  the  careful  consider- 
ation of  every  thoughtful  mind.  On  the 
contrary  there  was  a  large  class  of  sup- 
posedly   educated    persons,    with    minds 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  71 

crammed  with  the  rubbish  of  past  ages, 
who  treated  the  whole  matter  with  ridicule 
and  contempt,  charging  fraud  and  decep- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  mediums,  and  pro- 
nouncing those  who  accepted  these  things 
as  little  better  than  fools,  and  both  secular 
and  sectarian  press  re-echoed  the  charge 
until  epithets  and  denunciations  fell  around 
them  as  thick  as  autumn  leaves. 

Again,  many  approached  these  returning 
spirits  with  superstitious  reverence,  believ- 
ing that  because  they  came  from  another 
world  they  must  necessarily  be  superior  in 
intelligence  and  perception  to  those  still 
dwelling  on  this  side  of  life.  Even  if  this 
were  true  it  is  no  reason  why  we  should 
surrender  our  individuality,  or  dispense 
with  that  mental  digestion  so  necessary  to 
a  healthy  growth.  They  do  not  return  to 
relieve  us  of  our  obligations  and  duties 
here,  but  to  prove  their  continued  exist- 
ence, their  love  and  affection  toward  us, 


72  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

and  to  point  out  the  only  pathway  to  an- 
other life. 

We  all  understand  that  our  mental  atti- 
tude toward  our  friends  determines  our 
relations  with  them.  The  closer  we  come 
to  them,  the  more  we  realize  the  beauty 
and  simplicity  of  their  lives;  and  this  is 
especially  true  in  our  associations  with 
our  unseen  friends,  who  are  far  more  sen- 
sitive to  mental  influence  than  those  dwell- 
ing here  with  minds  more  or  less  clouded 
by  materialistic  environments.  In  com- 
muning with  them  we  cannot  make  our 
own  conditions.  We  must  either  accept 
or  reject  what  comes. 

The  popular  idea  of  applying  scientific 
methods  to  the  investigation  of  this  sub- 
ject is  absurd.  It  cannot,  even  with  the 
very  best  intentions,  produce  satisfactory 
results. 

A  somewhat  similar  manifestation  of 
the  phenomena  has  existed  in  India  for 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  73 

thousands  of  years,  where  every  family  is 
said  to  have  a  separate  room  devoted  to 
communion  with  their  ancestors.  Tem- 
ples are  filled  with  Adepts  and  virgins, 
who  are  supposed  to  live  a  severe  and 
monastic  life,  deriving  their  support  from 
contributions  from  the  people,  and  collec- 
tions obtained  by  travelling  fakirs,  whose 
wonderful  performances  never  fail  to  at- 
tract attention.  "  They  never  ask  alms ; 
merely  accept  what  is  given  for  the  temple 
to  which  they  belong."  They  avoid  all 
luxuries,  living  on  fruits  and  uncooked 
grain,  ignoring  as  far  as  possible  their 
material  bodies.  In  their  midnight  se- 
ances, amid  clouds  of  burning  incense, 
wonderful  materializations  appear  and 
disappear.  Whatever  may  have  been 
their  spiritual  growth,  they  have  never 
contributed  in  any  way  to  the  advance 
of  civilization,  and  so  far  as  a  healthy 
strenuous  life   makes   for   a   larger   man- 


74  THROUGH   THE   AGES 

hood,  they  might   as   well    not   have   ex- 
isted. 

Singular  as  it  may  appear,  there  are 
many  among  us  at  the  present  time  who 
are  charmed  with  this  Oriental  non-pro- 
gressive Spiritualism,  either  seeking  to 
graft  it  on  to  the  new  or  set  up  a  new  ism 
of  their  own. 

It  always  has  been  and  probably  will 
continue  to  be  the  fate  of  evolution  to  be 
obliged  to  drag  after  it  the  dead  body  of 
the  past. 

In  what  is  known  as  Modern  Spiritual- 
ism, there  is  nothing  complex  or  conflict- 
ing, unless  we  choose  to  make  it  so  by  dis- 
torting its  true  meaning. 
/^  The  wonderful  growth  of  Spiritualism 
/   was  due  to  personal  experience  —  to  act- 
/     ual   contact  with   the   phenomena   as  ex- 
\     pressed  through  mediums. 

There  is  no  one  thing  in  the  life  of 
man   so  vital  to  the  building  of  a  noble 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  75 

character  as  a  knowledge  of  his  true  rela- 
tion to  spirit  life.  Those  who  realize  this 
great  truth  should  see  to  it  that  it  is  kept 
from  those  tangling  and  perverting  in- 
fluences by  which  pure  Christianity  was 
deflected  from  its  true  meaning,  and  for  a 
time  lost  to  the  world. 

The  continuance  of  these  manifestations 
depends  upon  the  hospitality  we  extend 
to  them,  and  the  mental  atmosphere  by 
which  we  are  surrounded.  This  is  not 
the  first  time  in  the  history  of  the  world 
that  spirits  have  sought  an  audience  from 
those  dwelling  in  material  life  and  been 
obliged  to  retire.  Already  there  is  an  ap- 
palling amount  of  debris  being  heaped 
around  these  simple  manifestations,  eman- 
ating from  morbid  and  irresponsible  per- 
sons, who,  having  lost  their  anchorage  in 
the  common-sense  things  of  life,  have  be- 
come derelicts,  drifting  on  an  unknown 
sea. 


76  THROUGH  THE  AGES 

]  Spiritualism  has  been  hampered  in  its 
growth,  deflected  from  its  true  meaning, 
\  perverted  in  the  public  estimation  by  what 
\  is  equivalent  to  dime  novels  and  yellow 
backs  in  literature,  the  product  of  imagin- 
ative minds  devoid  of  spiritual  perception, 
seeking  only  for  sensational  effects. 

The  danger  to  Spiritualism  is  from 
within,  not  from  without.  It  stood  un- 
moved by  the  assaults  of  public  opinion 
and  only  yielded  when  corruption  sprang 
up  in  its  own  ranks,  coming  from  those 
who  claimed  to  be  its  friends. 

We  are  supposed  to  be  an  emanation 
from  the  Divine  Intelligence,  a  part  of  the 
Divine  Mind.  We  come  into  this  life 
pure.  To  suppose  that  we  return  corrupt 
beings  is  a  step  backward,  a  relic  of  a 
barbaric  age. 

With  the  decline  of  the  old  theologi- 
cal idea  of  a  day  of  judgment  and  the 
resurrection  of  the  body,  came  a   more 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  77 

reasonable  view  of  another  life,  the  be- 
lief that  when  the  spirit  leaves  the  body 
it  enters  at  once  another  state  of  exist- 
ence, that  it  has  no  further  use  for  the 
body,  which  is  a  worn  out  garment  thrown 
aside. 

If  this  is  true,  by  what  logic  or  reason- 


lu-an^- 


^  ing  can  it  be  assumed  that  violation  of  the 
iisJ  ^  r-  j^^g  lYiade  solely  for  our  material  relations 
-tcfl  in  this  world  will  in  any  way  adhere  to  the 
spirit,  any  more  than  the  discarded  body  ? 
If  this  cannot  be  maintained,  then  the 
spirit  loses  in  its  contact  with  matter. 

It  is  cruel  and  unjust  to  charge  mediums 
with  what  they  are  in  no  way  responsible 
for.  Death  follows  birth  as  certain  as 
night  follows  day.  We  hoped,  we  prayed, 
with  mingled  feelings  of  fear  and  doubt, 
that  death  did  not  end  all.  Through  these 
mediums  have  come  the  knowledge  of  a 
continued  state  of  existence,  and  an  affec- 
tionate   communion    with    our    departed 


78  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

friends.  These  things  have  been  proved  by 
an  overwhelming  amount  of  testimony  that 
cannot  be  impeached. 

What  must  be  the  quality  of  that  mind 
which,  instead  of  gratitude  and  kindly  re- 
gard toward  them,  seeks  to  malign  and 
abuse  them  !  Knowing  as  I  do,  from  long 
experience,  the  tangled  and  confusing  ele- 
ments that  spirits  have  to  encounter  in 
their  efforts  to  communicate  with  us,  I  pre- 
fer in  all  cases  of  apparent  failure  to  sus- 
pend judgment  rather  than  to  reflect  on 
the  character  of  the  medium. 

We  are  so  completely  surrounded  by  a 
mirage  that  appeals  to  our  outward  senses 
that  it  is  difficult  to  penetrate  beyond  it. 
What  we  call  evil  is  due  to  appearances, 
to  a  deflection  of  spirit  force  in  its  effort 
to  express  itself  through  material  and  im- 
perfect organisms.  Even  through  the 
most  perfect  embodiment,  spirit  expression 
must  necessarily  be  more  or  less  clouded. 


THROUGH   THE  AGES  79 

In  our  efforts  to  reason  and  draw  con- 
clusions from  outward  manifestations  of 
material  life  we  become  the  sport  of  specu- 
lation and  theories,  and  live  in  a  sort  of 
delirium  in  which  we  hear  and  see  things 
which  have  no  existence  except  to  our  own 
distorted  vision. 

Only  from  within,  from  our  intu- 
itions, from  the  ever-present  conscious- 
ness of  our  divine  relations  to  another 
life,  can  we  realize  our  true  manhood. 
It  is  of  the  utmost  importance,  if  we 
desire  to  get  at  the  truth,  that  we 
should  not  drag  Spiritualism  down  into 
the  baffling  elements  of  crude  material 
life. 

The  line  between  sanity  and  insanity  is 
not  always  easily  determined,  for  most  of 
us  have,  stored  away  in  some  corner  of  our 
brains,  a  touch  of  irresponsibility  that 
comes  to  the  surface  on  a  very  slight  prov- 
ocation. 


So  THROUGH   THE  AGES 

Whether  your  inner  self  is  open  to 
spiritual  impressions  or  not,  be  true  to 
yourself,  not  forgetting,  however,  that  self- 
conceit  blinds  you  to  a  perception  of  your 
true  character.  Disrobed  of  all  outward 
appearances,  you  are  no  better  and  no 
worse  than  your  neighbor. 

The  changing,  shifting  mirage  of 
thought,  the  imaginative  and  elusive  ideas 
that  float  through  our  mental  atmosphere, 
can  have  no  possible  connection  with  true 
Spiritualism,  which  springs  from  the  affec- 
tions and  is  of  no  value  to  us  only  so  far 
as  we  realize  its  simple  and  beautiful  rela- 
tions to  the  other  life. 

The  splendor  of  man  is  not  in  bending 
his  energies  to  some  little  specialty,  thereby 
dwarfing  his  other  faculties,  nor  in  the 
dramatic  display  of  his  artificial  acquire- 
ments which  will  disappear  with  the  decay 
of  his  physical  environments,  nor  in  the 
fear   or    dread    of    anything,   but   in    the 


THROUGH    THE   AGES  8i 

outflow  of  his  affections,  to  which  all 
things  respond  in  the  fulness  and  round- 
ing out  of  an  individual  life.  Spiritualism 
walks  hand  in  hand  with  the  beauty  and 
simplicity  of  the  true  Christ. 


In  all  that  makes  a  healthy  life 
There  is  no  pomp  or  jealous  strife. 
Love  rules  supreme,  and  self-conceit 
Is  crushed  like  weeds  beneath  the  feet. 
We  grope  about  and  aimless  move 
Until  our  hearts  are  filled  with  love ; 
Then  comes  the  dawn,  the  rosy  light 
That  lifts  the  shadows  of  the  night  — 
The  withered  hopes,  the  ghastly  fears 
That  journey  with  our  waning  years. 
The  pathway  to  the  unseen  world 
Is  full  of  hope,  of  joys  untold, 
With  love's  rich  bloom,  with  fragrant  air, 
Unselfish  deeds  and  silent  prayer. 
Who  seeks  to  climb  some  other  way 
Will  tarry  long,  will  go  astray. 
For  love  alone  can  point  the  way. 


WE   ARE  ONE 

We  were  two  and  yet  we  are  one.  I  can- 
not remember  when  we  were  not  together. 
In  the  springtime  of  Hfe  we  walked  hand 
in  hand  through  the  green  fields  and  leafy 
groves,  by  the  running  brooks  where  the 
flowers  bloomed  and  the  birds  poured 
forth  their  songs  of  love. 

We  saw  the  farmer,  robust  and  strong, 
cultivating  his  ground,  trusting  to  a  gener- 
ous return;  the  wife,  peaceful,  contented 
and  happy;  the  children,  frolicking  on  the 
lawn,  and  I  said,  "This  is  peace;  let  us 
stay  here."  The  days,  the  weeks,  the 
months,  came  and  went.  I  grew  restive, 
vain  and  conceited.  When  I  was  weary, 
exhausted  or  sick,  my  companion  bent  over 

me   so  tenderly.     She  was  not  disturbed 
8s 


86  WE   ARE   ONE 

when  I  said  or  did  things  that  I  ought 
to  have  been  ashamed  of.  In  fact,  I  felt 
at  times  that  it  pleased  her.  She  was 
so  far  superior  to  my  own  wayward  dis- 
position, that  it  hurt  my  self-love.  I 
was  vexed  that  she  took  no  interest  in 
things  that  so  disturbed  and  tired  me. 
Had  she  complained  or  found  fault,  it 
would  have  been  a  relief.  I  would  have 
quarrelled  with  her,  but  had  not  the  heart 
to  do  so.  As  I  look  back  on  that  part  of 
our  association,  I  can  see  how  unmanly 
and  provoking  I  must  have  been. 

The  autumn  came;  the  flowers  disap- 
peared, the  grass  turned  yellow,  the  birds 
went  southward,  the  brown  leaves  were 
falling,  the  brooks  were  silent,  the  chil- 
dren no  longer  frolicked  on  the  lawn,  the 
farmer  had  gathered  in  his  crops  and  retired 
into  winter  quarters.  I  became  dissatis- 
fied and  sought  to  avoid  the  impending 
change.     I    said  to  my  companion,  "Let 


WE  ARE   ONE  87 

US  go  —  why  should  we  stay  here  ?  "  She 
answered,  "  Where  ?  "  and  I  said,  "  Any- 
where but  here." 

We  drifted  to  a  great  city  where  the 
river  of  life  seethed  and  rolled  to  the  great 
ocean  of  Eternity.  On  its  surface  the 
debris  of  untold  ages,  the  foam  and  scum 
of  artificial  life.  What  poverty,  crime, 
ruin,  joy  and  sorrow  lay  beneath  its  terri- 
ble surface,  I  cared  not  to  know.  I  only 
sought  to  get  away.  Again  I  said,  "  Let 
us  go."  She  answered,  "  Where  ?  "  I  said, 
"  To  yonder  mountain  whose  hoary  head 
is  covered  by  the  fleecy  clouds.  There 
must  be  rest  above  the  thoughtless, 
changeful  current  of  material  life." 

Slowly  we  toiled  up  its  side  until  we 
reached  the  line  of  perpetual  snow  and 
ice.  Tired  and  completely  exhausted,  I 
threw  myself  on  the  ground.  She  sat 
beside  me  and  laid  her  hand  on  my  brow. 
For   the    first    time    for    years    I    felt    a 


88  WE  ARE   ONE 

yearning  toward  her,  a  faint  glimmer  of 
a  changing  life. 

I  heard  the  creak  and  grind  of  the  rocks 
forced  aside  by  the  frost.  Great  boulders, 
severed  from  their  anchorage,  went  smok- 
ing down  the  mountain,  tearing  up  the 
trees  at  the  base.  I  saw  on  all  sides  the 
warring  elements,  —  the  rains,  the  snows, 
the  frost,  were  slowly  cutting  the  moun- 
tain down;  that,  in  the  ages  to  come,  it 
would  disappear.  Again  I  sought  to  es- 
cape all  this  turmoil  and  strife. 

As  I  looked  down  on  the  plain,  I  saw 
mighty  armies  pitted  against  each  other. 
I  heard  the  roar  of  guns,  the  shriek  of 
shells,  the  cries  and  groans  of  the  wounded, 
the  neighing  of  steeds  as  they  fled  rider- 
less from  the  field  and  the  dead  with  up- 
turned faces,  —  here  and  there  with  a 
placid  look  as  if  dreaming  of  loved  ones 
far  away.  I  saw  that  if  man's  physical 
nature  was  evolved  from  the  brute,  there 


WE  ARE   ONE  S9 

were  times  when,  through  inherited  ten- 
dencies, he  sank  below  his  origin. 

I  saw  that  no  sooner  was  a  material 
form  brought  into  existence  than  all  the 
elements  conspired  to  destroy  it.  De- 
pressed and  humiliated  by  all  I  had  passed 
through,  I  said  to  my  companion,  "  Is 
there  no  escape  from  these  things  ?  "  She 
replied, "  Not  while  the  earth  remains  as  it 
is.  This  grind,  these  ceaseless  changes 
are  but  the  evolution  to  higher  forms ;  the 
eternal  and  never  varying  law  of  progress 
leading  to  a  better  and  clearer  expression 
of  the  Infinite  Intelligence.  The  birth  of 
the  Divine  Spirit  into  material  form  is  not 
peaceful,  but  struggling  and  convulsive, 
deflected  and  distorted,  in  all  its  outward 
expression." 

On  looking  back  over  the  past,  I  found 
that  I  had,  unconsciously,  been  trying  to 
create  a  world  of  my  own;  that  repose 
comes  only  through  a  cheerful  acceptance 


90  WE  ARE   ONE 

of  the  eternal  laws  that  govern  all  life.  I 
had  drifted  away  from  my  companion, 
whose  gentle  and  confiding  nature  led  her 
to  realize  the  Divine  Intelligence  in  all 
these  ceaseless  changes  that  had  so  dis- 
turbed me.  My  pride  and  vanity  had 
gone.  I  turned  to  her  and  she  met  me 
with  a  face  radiant,  glowing  with  confi- 
dence and  affection.  Whatever  may  have 
happened  to  others,  she  had  not  changed. 
I  took  her  hand  in  mine,  threw  my  arm 
around  her  waist  and  together  we  went  as 
we  had  done  in  the  springtime  of  life. 
We  are  one. 


Look  to  thyself.     What  thou  canst  see 
Is  what  thou  art  —  a  part  of  thee. 
All  fraud,  all  wrong  that  we  call  sin, 
Or  think  is  so,  springs  from  within. 

Our  acts  are  past  beyond  recall ; 
Love  throws  its  mantle  over  all. 
Our  seeming  sins,  our  faults  are  due 
To  baffled  thoughts,  the  spirit's  force 
Deflected  in  its  outward  course. 


THE    UNKNOWN 

It  was  on  February  2,  18 — ,  that  my 
morning  mail  contained  a  letter  as  fol- 
lows: 

"Through    our    mutual   friend    S , 

I  have  become  interested  in  you  and  pro- 
pose  to  call  on  you  this  evening,  about 
I  seven   o'clock.      If   not    convenient,   tele- 

phone 43-7. 

"(Signed)    Arthur  Burleigh/' 

The  letter  was  written  from  right  to  left, 
and  in  order  to  read  it,  it  had  to  be  held 
before  a  mirror.  I  could  recall  no  one 
living  by  that  name.  In  my  early  days  I 
had  a  friend  by  that  name  who  was  a  great 
traveller.  Sometimes  I  would  not  hear 
from  him  for  two  or  three  years.     Finally, 

93 


94  THE    UNKNOWN 

he  returned  and  after  a  short  illness  passed 
to  the  other  world.  As  I  had  attended 
his  funeral  there  seemed  to  be  no  possible 
connection  between  the  two.  I  was  es- 
pecially puzzled  as  to  who  our  mutual 
friend  S might  be. 

That  morning  the  sun  rose  fairly  clear 
and  there  was  nothing  to  indicate  to  the 
casual  observer  any  sudden  change  of 
weather.  About  nine  the  sky  became 
overcast,  the  wind  suddenly  veered  to  the 
northeast  and  by  noon  there  was  a  blind- 
ing snowstorm.  Not  fleecy  flakes,  but 
frozen  pellets  that,  driven  by  the  fierce 
wind,  cut  like  a  sandblast.  The  streets 
were  deserted,  no  one  venturing  out  unless 
actually  obliged  to  brave  the  storm,  which 
increased  in  violence. 

The  wind  roared  through  the  leafless 
trees;  the  branches  swayed  and  thrashed 
each  other  as  if  in  deadly  conflict  with 
some  unseen  foe.     There  was  no   moon, 


THE    UNKNOWN  95 

and  the  night  came  down  in  utter  dark- 
ness. Above  the  howling  of  the  storm 
could  be  heard  the  shrieks  of  whistles  and 
the  puffing  of  steam  engines,  as  they  ad- 
vanced to  the  attack  of  some  defiant  snow- 
drift. The  house  creaked  and  shook  like 
a  ship  tossed  by  the  waves.  The  snow 
beat  against  the  window-panes  as  if  they 
were  bombarded  with  gravel.  Several 
large  white-pines  back  of  the  house  were 
either  stripped  of  their  limbs  or  broken 
near  the  ground,  falling  with  a  crash. 

I  put  on  my  dressing  gown  and  slippers, 
entered  my  study,  lighted  a  cigar  and  sat 
down  in  my  large  armchair  in  front  of 
a  blazing  wood  fire,  thankful  that  I  was 
protected  from  the  conflict  raging  without. 
I  cannot  say  that  I  was  entirely  at  ease, 
for  my  sympathy  went  out  to  those  who 
were  obliged  to  contend  with  the  storm. 

However  exciting  anything  may  be  at 
first,   if   oft   repeated    or    prolonged,   our 


96  THE    UNKNOWN 

sensibilities  are  dulled  and  we  are  lulled 
into  repose.  I  gradually  became  indiffer- 
ent to  my  surroundings.  To  the  right  of 
my  chair  was  a  small  table  and  on  it 
lay  Flammarion's  astronomy. 

When  one  has  nothing  else  to  do  he  is 
very  apt  to  turn  to  reading.  Most  of  us 
read  because  we  are  too  lazy  to  do  any- 
thing else.  We  like  the  sensation  of 
words  and  ideas  passing  before  us  like  a 
panorama,  in  such  rapid  succession  that 
none  of  them  have  time  to  make  a  perma- 
nent impression  on  our  minds. 

I  took  up  the  book  and,  turning  to  such 
parts  as  particularly  interested  me,  became 
absorbed  in  it.  How  long  I  read  I  cannot 
say,  but  judge  it  might  have  been  about 
nine  o'clock  when  I  was  startled  by  a 
sharp  ring  at  the  door  bell. 

I  went  into  the  hall,  and  unlocked  the 
door,  when  a  sudden  gust  of  wind  threw  it 
open,  forcing  me  back  against   the  wall, 


THE    UNKNOWN  97 

while  the  hall  lamp  swung  back  and  forth 
like  a  signal  lantern.  On  the  threshold 
stood  my  unknown  friend,  covered  with 
snow. 

He  reached  out  his  hand,  wet  and  cold 
from  the  effects  of  the  storm,  but  warm 
and  hearty  in  its  magnetic  grasp,  saying, 
"  I  am  glad  to  meet  you." 

Brushing  the  snow  from  his  coat  and 
hat  and  hanging  them  on  the  rack,  we  en- 
tered my  study  and  took  our  seats  before 
the  blazing  fire. 

Noticing  that  he  held  his  hand  before 
his  face  as  if  the  direct  rays  of  light 
troubled  him,  I  moved  a  small  screen 
between  him  and  the  fire.  This  gave  me 
a  momentary  opportunity  to  study  my 
mysterious  visitor.  He  was  tall,  broad 
shouldered,  well  built  and  apparently  some- 
thing over  sixty  years  old.  His  features 
were  regular  and  mild  in  expression,  his 
forehead   high   and   somewhat  retreating, 


98  THE   UNKNOWN 

his  hair  and  beard  long  and  snowy 
white,  and  his  voice  low  and  singularly 
musical. 

After  a  few  minutes  in  which  he  seemed 
to  be  collecting  himself,  he  turned  and 
said,  "  Perhaps  I  owe  you  an  apology.  It 
was  my  only  chance  of  meeting  you.  Had 
I  known  what  I  would  have  to  encounter 
I  might  have  hesitated.  The  train  was 
over  an  hour  late,  and  when  we  arrived  at 
your  station  there  was  no  carriage  to  be 
had  and  no  hotel.  I  asked  the  agent  when 
the  next  train  would  return.  He  said  he 
hardly  thought  any  trains  would  start  out 
to-night,  as  they  would  be  fortunate  if  they 
were  able  to  relieve  those  already  stalled 
on  the  road.  Fortunately  a  man  who  had 
occupied  the  seat  with  me  heard  me  men- 
tion your  name  and  came  forward  saying 
he  lived  quite  near  you  and  offered  to  pilot 
me  here." 

I  told  him  that  he  was  heartily  welcome. 


THE    UNKNOWN-  99 

This  assurance  seemed  to  relieve  him 
and  after  a  short  pause  he  reached  over 
and  took  Flammarion's  book,  glanced  over 
it  and  laid  it  back  asking,  "  Are  you  inter- 
ested in  this  ? " 

"  Somewhat,"  I  replied.  "  Have  you  read 
it?" 

"  Not  in  its  present  form.  I  knew 
the  author  when  he  was  engaged  upon 
it.  Flammarion  wrote  for  the  public 
and  did  not  care  to  antagonize  his  col- 
leagues. What  he  did  not  write  interested 
me  more  than  what  he  did  write.  In  my 
early  days  I  had  a  taste  for  astronomy,  but 
not  being  over  pleased  with  their  theories 
and  speculations  and  having  a  strong  de- 
sire to  see  the  world,  I  gave  it  up  and  de- 
voted my  time  to  travel.  For  more  than 
forty  years  I  have  been  without  a  perma- 
nent home,  and  there  is  scarcely  a  nation 
or  tribe  with  which  I  have  not  been  more 
or  less  associated. 


loo  THE   UNKNOWN 

"  While  my  object  was  to  study  the  ethi- 
cal side  of  life,  I  have  not  been  unmindful 
of  what  is  called  civilization,  the  claim  to 
an  advanced  condition  affecting  our  rela- 
tions with  each  other.  If  we  analyze  these 
claims  we  find  them  largely  artificial, — 
that  where  there  has  been  a  gain  on  one 
side  there  has  been  a  corresponding  loss 
on  the  other.  The  wars  and  conflicts  of 
civilized  nations  show  no  advance  from  the 
brutalities  of  the  savage.  The  love  of  dis- 
play and  self-conceit  which  lead  to  the  as- 
sumption of  superiority  of  intellect  over 
the  affections  is  responsible  for  much  that 
is  called  civilization.  True  character  is 
essentially  the  same  everywhere. 

"  These  things  interested  me  only  so  far 
as  they  affected  my  relations  with  those 
with  whom  I  was  temporarily  residing,  my 
object  being  to  ascertain,  personally,  as 
far  as  possible,  the  prevailing  belief  in  a 
future  life  and  the  supposed  occupations 


THE    UNKNOWN  loi 

in  that  world.  There  is  not  time  to  give 
you  my  experience  in  detail,  and  I  will 
only  allude  to  two  or  three  instances  as 
typical  of  all,  with  one  exception. 

"  The  North  American  Indians  all  be- 
lieve in  the  Great  Spirit  and  a  continued 
life  after  death.  When  questioned  as  to 
what  they  expected  to  find  there,  the  uni- 
versal answer  was,  *The  Happy  Hunting 
Grounds.'  They  buried  with  their  dead 
the  implements  of  the  chase,  and  sacri- 
ficed his  favorite  steed  that  he  might  be 
ready  for  the  chase.  As  the  pursuit  of 
game  was  necessary  to  their  material  ex- 
istence it  will  be  seen  that  their  concep- 
tion of  another  life  did  not  rise  above 
their  physical  needs. 

"  The  Mahomedan  finds  the  sensuous 
pleasures  of  the  harem  mirrored  in  his 
heaven.  Among  the  Christians,  who 
ideally  worship  God,  but  practically  the 
Almighty   Dollar,   it   is   the   great  white 


102  THE    UNKNOWN 

throne,  the  eternal  city  paved  ^^ith  gold, 
enlivened  with  the  monotonous  ceaseless 
singing  on  the  one  hand,  and  on  the 
other,  the  roasting  and  broiling  of  those 
who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  be  deprived 
of  their  share  in  the  golden  city. 

"  Throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  world,  through  every  tribe  and  nation, 
we  find  that  the  idea  of  another  life  is 
based  on  some  peculiarity  or  custom  be- 
longing to  this  world. 

"  I  spent  many  years  in  India,  travelling 
over  the  greater  part  of  it.  Residing  a 
part  of  the  time  in  Benares,  I  adapted 
myself,  so  far  as  possible,  to  the  habits 
and  customs  of  the  country,  and  learned 
both  the  Hindu  and  Sanscrit  language. 

"  This  was  necessary  in  order  to  under- 
stand their  religion,  which  in  its  outward 
manifestation  is  nothing  but  a  piece  of 
complicated  masking  for  controlling  the 
common  people.      This  is  echoed  in  the 


THE    UNKNOWN  103 

Catholic  church.  Both  Hindu  and  Catholic 
worship  is  conducted  in  a  language  that 
is  not  understood  by  the  masses.  Both 
appeal  to  the  outward  senses  by  the  use 
of  images  and  ceremony. 

"  In  the  mitre,  the  robes,  the  altar,  the 
candles,  the  images,  the  burning  incense 
and  the  use  of  language  unintelligible  to 
the  people,  we  have  a  form  of  worship 
under  the  name  of  Christianity  that  dates 
back  thousands  of  years  before  the  Chris- 
tian era. 

"The  statements  of  missionaries  in  re- 
gard to  the  religious  life  in  India  are 
unreliable,  as  the  unfortunate  conditions 
of  caste,  and  the  fact  that  they  are  there 
for  the  avowed  purpose  of  overthrowing 
the  Hindu  religion,  shuts  them  out  from 
the  inner  life,  prevents  their  fraternizing 
with  the  best  minds  of  the  country. 

"  It  was  while  residing  in  Benares  that  I 
became  greatly  attracted   to   one  of  the 


I04  THE    UNKNOWN 

Adepts  attached  to  the  temple.  So  thor- 
oughly were  our  feelings  in  unison  that 
the  accident  of  birth  was  entirely  lost  sight 
of.  Whether  in  the  hope  that  I  might 
be  of  use  to  some  of  our  Western  people 
or  for  some  other  reason,  the  usual  rules 
and  regulations  in  regard  to  the  initiation 
of  Neophytes  were  as  far  as  possible  dis- 
pensed with,  and  such  spiritual  knowledge 
as  I  was  capable  of  receiving  was  freely 
given. 

"  It  was  one  of  those  beautiful  moonlight 
nights,  the  splendor  of  which  is  found 
only  in  the  Orient,  that  we  wandered 
through  the  groves,  discussing  much  of 
our  past  experience.  He  seemed  a  little 
disturbed,  and  more  than  usually  thought- 
ful. Stopping  for  a  moment,  he  said, 
'You  are  going  to  your  Western  home, 
thinking  that  you  can  do  more  good  there 
than  here.  Possibly  that  is  true.  That 
restless,  yearning  spirit  which  belongs  to 


THE    UNKNOWN  105 

your  race  may  lead  to  higher  spiritual 
expression.  Take  care  that  you  do  not 
lose  your  anchorage,  as  so  many  have 
done  in  seeking  after  the  invisible.' 

"  On  our  return  we  sat  down  on  the  long 
flight  of  steps  leading  to  the  Ganges. 
My  friend  sat  a  long  time  in  meditation. 
Then  turning  to  me,  he  said,  '  Pardon  me 
if  I  seem  severe.  You  Western  people 
do  not  understand  us.  You  appear  to  be  a 
hard,  matter-of-fact  race.  Except  through 
your  poets  you  do  not  seem  to  appreciate 
even  the  poetic  phase  of  a  fact,  to  say 
nothing  of  its  spiritual  significance. 

" '  You  boast  of  your  better  civilization, 
your  inventions,  your  commerce,  your 
culture  of  the  intellect.  All  this  may  be 
progress,  but  what  you  have  gained  on  the 
one  side  you  have  lost  on  the  other.  In 
the  love  of  nature,  in  spirituality,  in  that 
child-Hke  confidence  in  the  Divine  Intel- 
ligence you  are,  as  a  nation,  lacking. 


io6  THE    UNKNOWN 

"  *  Religion  sets  lightly  on  your  backs, 
like  Christian's  burden  in  "  Pilgrim's  Prog- 
ress." It  is  so  convenient  to  carry  in  that 
way,  for  it  can  be  laid  down  for  six  days 
and  picked  up  on  the  seventh. 

" '  How  few  among  you  realize  that  elec- 
tricity finds  its  expression  only  through  a 
positive  and  a  negative  pole;  that  spirit 
as  an  entity,  a  spark  from  the  divine 
mind,  is  powerless  to  express  itself  until 
the  polarity  between  it  and  matter  is  es- 
tablished. Once  the  connection  is  made 
it  cannot  be  severed.  Conscious  individ- 
ual self  is  as  indestructible  as  spirit  or  mat- 
ter. God  is  the  supreme  positive  intelli- 
gent force,  and  the  material  universe  the 
negative  body,  through  which  all  things 
are  expressed. 

"*Your  scientists  blunder  in  the  sup- 
posed discovery  of  evolution.  There  is 
no  evolution  of  spirit,  it  is  only  the  prog- 
ress  of  matter  toward  the  invisible.     If 


THE   UNKNOWN  107 

you  darken  a  room  on  a  bright  day  and  let 
in  a  ray  of  light,  you  will  see  in  its  path 
minute  particles,  whirling  and  revolving 
about  each  other,  some  glistening  like  dia- 
monds. What  you  see  is  a  very  small 
portion  of  the  whole.  There  are  millions 
that  you  do  not  see.  Then  you  realize 
that  you  are  living  in  a  vast  ocean  of 
invisible  matter,  that  four-fifths  of  all 
that  is  needed  to  sustain  your  physical 
system  is  derived  from  this  source,  that 
the  requirement  for  coarser  food  decreases 
in  direct  ratio  to  the  refinement  of  your 
body. 

"  *  Scientists  have  measured  the  sun  and 
the  planets,  located  their  orbits  and  deter- 
mined their  relative  positions,  but  they 
have  no  instrument  that  enables  them  to 
discover,  and  no  eyes  to  see  that  what  we 
call  earth  is  a  vast  planet  extending  thou- 
sands of  miles  beyond  what  is  supposed  to 
be  the  surface. 


io8  THE    UNKNOWN 

"'In  the  progress  of  matter  toward  the 
invisible,  it  reaches  a  stage  where  gravita- 
tion  does  not  act  upon  it,  and  instead  of 
falling,  the  particles  rise  and  come  under 
the  universal  law  of  magnetic  control. 

" '  From  everything,  animate  and  inani- 
mate, these  particles  are  constantly  arising 
to  the  outer  surface  of  our  invisible  planet, 
where,  according  to  the  laws  of  attraction 
and  repulsion,  they  arrange  themselves  in 
their  order,  producing  mountains,  plains 
and  valleys,  —  everything  manifested  by 
Nature  in  crude  matter  on  the  visible,  cen- 
tral portion  or  heart  of  this  planet  which 
we  call  the  Earth  is  duplicated  there. 

" '  That  supreme,  intelligent  force  which 
unerringly  selects  and  retains  all  that  is 
necessary  to  individual  life  is  always  the 
same,  whether  in  the  visible  or  the  invis- 
ible world.  If  you  understand  that  all 
natural  expression  of  life  here  finds  its 
counterpart  in  a  more  elevated  condition 


THE    UNKNOWN  109 

in  the  other  world,  that  spirit  expresses 
itself  in  proportion  to  the  refinement  of 
matter  it  has  to  deal  with,  you  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  conceiving  what  your  life 
will  be  in  the  other  world. 

" '  Do  not  trouble  yourself  about  the 
creation  of  the  world.  There  is  no  proof 
that  it  ever  was  created  or  that  it  ever 
will  have  an  end. 

" '  The  law  of  compensation  is  imperative. 

" '  Whatever  loss  appears  to  come 
through  the  progress  of  matter  toward  the 
invisible  is  more  than  made  up  by  the 
falling  of  meteoric  dust  and  stones. 

" '  Bear  in  mind  always  what  has  been 
taught  you  in  your  initiations.  Learn  to 
separate  the  chaff  from  the  wheat.  Noth- 
ing is  false,  all  is  right,  in  its  place.  The 
chaff  is  necessary  to  the  grain,  though 
it  may  not  be  to  you.  Everything  inter- 
blends,  you  cannot  stand  alone.  All  the 
world  contributes  to  your  existence  here. 


no  THE   UNKNOWN 

"  *  From  every  part  of  your  body  there 
are  constantly  thrown  off  millions  of  parti- 
cles of  matter  so  small  that  no  microscope 
can  detect  them.  They  are  the  result  of 
the  pulsation  of  spirit  through  matter, 
your  organization  accepting  only  that 
which  is  necessary  to  your  individual 
growth,  rejecting  all  else. 

"  *  These  emanations  from  your  body 
are  magnetically  charged  with  your  own 
personality,  apparent  to  both  man  and 
animals,  through  the  sense  of  smell. 

"  *  What  is  true  of  your  own  organization 
is  true  of  every  living  thing.  The  air  you 
breathe,  everything  around  you,  is  crowded 
with  these  emanations,  you  cannot  escape 
them;  unconsciously  they  permeate  your 
whole  system.  They  differ  but  little  from 
the  atoms  that  compose  your  body.  The 
spirits  can  mould  them  as  they  please.  That 
which  has  been  rejected  by  one  organiza- 
tion is  necessary  to  the  growth  of  another. 


THE    UNKNOWN  iii 

" '  What  is  called  intellect  or  mind  is  not 
spirit  or  soul.  It  is  the  refuse  emanations 
resulting  from  the  union  of  spirit  and 
matter  in  the  evolution  of  material  individ- 
ual growth. 

" '  Whether  you  are  conscious  or  uncon- 
scious, sleeping  or  waking,  this  pulsation 
of  spirit  through  matter  is  always  present. 
You  are  a  part  of  me  and  I  a  part  of  you, 
and  we  are  a  part  of  everything  that  is 
or  has  been.  The  whole  world  is  united 
through  evolution  and  interchangeable 
particles  of  matter. 

"'While  you  maintain  your  individu- 
ality you  cannot  entirely  free  yourself 
from  the  inherited  tendencies  of  atoms 
that  have  passed  through  other  organ- 
izations. 

" '  They  are  accountable  for  the  vagaries 
and  hypnotic  illusions  of  earth  life,  irre- 
sponsible mental  activities  over  which  per- 
sonality has  lost  its  control. 


112  THE   UNKNOWN 

"  *  No  matter  what  sect  you  belong  to, 
what  form  of  worship  you  adopt,  whether 
you  are  open  to  spiritual  influence  or  not, 
your  happiness  depends  on  your  harmon- 
izing your  material  and  spiritual  relations 
in  this  life. 

"  *  You  will  start  to-morrow  for  your 
Western  home.  The  dingey  is  moored  at 
the  foot  of  the  steps.  The  rowers  are  on 
board,  —  everything  is  as  you  wished  it. 
The  spirits  will  go  with  you.  In  the  mean- 
time they  would  greet  you.' 

"  Stretching  out  both  arms  at  full  length 
he  became  rigid,  save  that  only  his  lips 
appeared  to  move  as  if  in  prayer;  his  eyes 
had  a  dreamy,  far-away  look.  Slowly  there 
arose  before  us  a  phosphorescent  cloud 
through  which  flashes  of  light  darted  in 
every  direction.  Low,  sweet  music  filled 
the  air,  seeming  to  come  from  no  one  point, 
but  swelled  all  around  us.  Through  the 
cloud,  vague,  undefined  forms  appeared  and 


THE    UNKNOWN  IJ3 

disappeared,  gradually  growing  more  dis- 
tinctly outlined  into  beautiful  beings,  some 
floating,  gliding  in  graceful  curves,  others, 
hand  in  hand,  tripping  up  and  down  the 
steps,  —  all  full  of  joyous  life.  One,  a 
beautiful  female  form  robed  in  white  with 
long  golden  hair,  reminding  me  of  my  far 
away  home,  stepped  forward,  kneeled  be- 
fore me,  threw  her  arms  around  my  neck 
and  whispered,  '  All  is  right.  I  am  ever 
near  you.  You  will  attain  happiness  when 
you  lay  aside  this  perishable  body.' 

"  She  vanished,  and  slowly  the  whole 
scene  faded  away,  until  to  all  appearances 
we  were  alone. 

"  The  first  rays  of  morning  light  were 
streaming  up  the  sky.  I  bade  my  friend 
farewell,  descended  the  steps,  went  aboard 
the  dingey  and  as  the  sun  broke  over 
the  horizon  we  cast  off  the  moorings  and 
drifted  down  the  Ganges.  Half  an  hour 
later  the  beautiful  city  of  Benares  with  its 


114  THE    UNKNOWN 

spires,  its  pagodas  and  its  minarets,  had 
faded  from  my  sight." 

As  he  paused  there  came  several  sharp 
raps  on  my  table,  and,  looking  round,  I 
saw  standing  behind  my  guest's  chair  the 
beautiful  female  he  had  described,  resting 
one  hand  on  his  shoulder  and  with  the 
other  pointing  to  a  photograph  of  a  child 
that  hung  on  the  wall  directly  in  front  of  us. 

Suddenly  the  picture  began  to  swing 
like  the  pendulum  of  a  clock.  The 
figure  vanished,  but  the  photograph  con- 
tinued to  swing  for  some  time.  It  at- 
tracted the  attention  of  my  visitor.  As  he 
gazed  at  it  he  said,  as  if  speaking  to  him- 
self, "  Our  mutual  friend." 

As  the  fire  was  low  and  we  were  drift- 
ing into  the  small  hours  of  the  night,  I 
suggested  that  we  retire  and  resume  our 
talk  the  next  day.  I  conducted  him  to  a 
large,  comfortable  chamber  in  my  forest 
home,  placed  a  lamp  on  the  table,  threw 


THE    UNKNOWN  115 

some  towels  over  the  pitcher,  and  as  I 
bade  him  good-night  he  said,  "  I  have  an 
engagement  at  nine ;  if  possible,  I  should 
like  to  keep  it."  I  replied,  "  We  have 
breakfast  at  seven;  that  will  give  you 
ample  time  to  reach  the  city  before  nine." 

I  rose  at  six  and  requested  the  best 
breakfast  the  house  afforded.  There  was 
great  curiosity  to  see  my  visitor. 

A  quarter  of  an  hour  passed  and  noth- 
ing was  heard  from  him.  I  went  up  to 
the  chamber  and  rapped  on  the  door, 
but  gained  no  response.  I  rapped  again. 
Still  no  reply.  I  opened  the  door.  The 
lamp  was  still  burning,  the  towels  still  lay 
across  the  pitcher,  the  bed  had  not  been 
occupied. 

I  descended  to  my  study.  There  were 
the  chair  and  the  screen  as  I  had  placed 
them  the  night  before.  The  storm  had 
abated  before  daylight.  There  were  no 
tracks  leading  either  to  or  from  the  house. 


Think  not  that  when  the  waning  light 
Of  evening  fades  and  blinds  thy  sight 
That  all  is  wrong,  or  aught  impure; 
The  white  light  only  shall  endure. 


iw 


I  AM  the  light  that  lifts  the  darkness, 
the  dawn  that  gilds  the  hill  tops  with  gold, 
the  pearly  dew  that  drenches  the  earth, 
the  painted  flower  in  all  its  splendor,  filled 
with  matchless  odor. 

I  am  the  bird  that  calls  all  day  to  his 
mate,  the  young  girl  with  lithe  form,  flow- 
ing hair  and  moist  eyes,   resting  on  her 

couch  and  dreaming  of  a  larger  life. 
119 


I20  ALL  IN  ALL 

I  am  the  mother  watching  her  babe  coo- 
ing and  stretching  its  little  limbs,  con- 
scious of  a  new  existence. 

I  am  the  stalwart  man  fighting  the 
elements,  cleaving  his  way  to  nobler  man- 
hood, the  wan  pilgrim  standing  at  the 
gateway  of  another  world. 

I  am  the  sailor  fearlessly  treading  the 
deck  amid  the  creaking  timber  and  the 
howling  storm. 

I  am  the  war,  the  pestilence,  the  famine 
that  sweeps  the  earth,  gathering  in  the 
harvest  that  those  who  come  after  may 
have  room. 

I  am  the  tempest  and  the  whirlwind; 
the  calm;  the  builder  of  mountains;  the 
whirling  atoms;  the  revolving  world  and 
great  sidereal  universe. 

I  am  the  rich,  the  poor,  the  high,  the 
low,  the  love,  the  affections,  the  joys  and 
the  sorrows  of  life.  I  am  the  finite  and  the 
infinite.     I  know  neither  time  nor  space. 


ALL   IN  ALL  121 

I  am  the  Supreme  Intelligence  from 
which  all  things  flow.  In  the  upheaval  of 
crude  matter  there  are  no  accidents,  no 
discord.  Everything  moves  on,  always 
advancing,  never  receding. 

In  the  fulness  of  my  attributes  all  things 
have  their  being.  To  those  who  under- 
stand me  all  things  are  possible.  With- 
out me  there  is  nothing. 

I  am  All  in  All. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

tDUCWlON-PSYCHOlOSY 


This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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